Taboo (redirected from Red lines)

taboo or tabu (both: tăb`, tə–), prohibition of an act or the use of an object or word under pain of punishment. Originally a Polynesian word, taboo can apply to the sacred or consecrated or to the dangerous, unclean, and forbidden. A taboo can be placed on an object, person, place, or word that is believed to have inherent power above the ordinary. This power, called mana, can only be approached by special priests. To give distinction to special moments in the life cycle, taboos are often declared at births, deaths, initiations, and marriages. Taboos are commonly placed on a clan's ancestral guardian, called the totem. The breaking of a taboo usually requires extermination of the offender or some sort of ceremonial purification in order to remove the taint from the community. Often the mana of a taboo is so great that the offender will suffer punishment, even death, merely through fear of its powers.

Bibliography

See J. G. Frazer, Taboo and the Perils of the Soul (3d ed. 1955); S. Freud, Totem and Taboo (1960, orig. 1918); M. Douglas, Purity and Danger (1970).

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taboo

Prohibition against touching, saying, or doing something for fear of immediate harm from a supernatural force. The term is of Polynesian origin and was first noted by Capt. James Cook during his 1771 visit to Tonga, but taboos have been present in virtually all cultures. They may include prohibitions on fishing or hunting at certain seasons, eating certain foods, interacting with members of other social classes, coming into contact with corpses, and (for women) performing certain activities during menstruation. Although some taboos can be traced to evident risks to health and safety, there is no generally accepted explanation of most others; most authorities agree that they tend to relate to objects and actions that are significant for the maintenance of social order.

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taboo, tabu

1. (in Polynesia and other islands of the South Pacific) marked off as simultaneously sacred and forbidden

2. ritual restriction or prohibition, esp of something that is considered holy or unclean

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Taboo 

(1) A prohibition in preclass societies against touching, taking, or using a thing or person deemed sacred. The violation of a taboo is supposed to bring supernatural reprisal.

The taboo custom was first described in 1771 by the explorer J. Cook in reference to the aborigines of the Tonga Islands. In the Polynesian culture, everything relating to the divine, or supernatural, and hence everything belonging to priests and chiefs was taboo. The notion of taboo apparently originated in conjunction with the need in formative societies to regulate individual behavior according to the interests of the group. Taboos thus governed the most important aspects of a person’s life, such as the observance of laws or customs regarding exogamy. Food taboos were also widespread. Vestiges of the taboo custom are preserved in modern religions; the Christian concept of sin, for example, is analogous to taboo.

REFERENCES

Takarev, S. A. Rannie formy religii i ikh razvitie. Moscow, 1964.
Semenov, Iu. I. Kak vozniklo chelovechestvo. Moscow, 1966.
(2) In linguistics, a taboo is a word whose use is either forbidden or scrupulously avoided because of religious beliefs, superstitions, social prohibitions, or the like. In Russian, for example, the word “bear” is substituted by commercial hunters with such expressions as “master of the house,” “clown,” or simply “he.”

M. V. KRIUKOV